PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico baseball team is preparing for its final non-conference tune up before the start of Lone Star Conference play as the Hounds will travel to Dallas Christian this weekend for a four game series.
Eastern will open the four game series with a doubleheader on Friday with the first game starting at 10 a.m. before returning on Saturday for an 11 a.m. doubleheader.
LAST TIME OUT
The Greyhounds hosted Texas A&M-Kingsville in a four game non-conference series last weekend, but dropped three of four in the series.
The Javelinas won 16-4 in the opening game on March 15, but ENMU bounced back in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader with an 11-6 win before falling 17-1 in the second game.
The Hounds had a strong chance to even the series in the Sunday game as Eastern held a 7-1 lead after six innings, but the Javelinas rallied with seven runs in the final two frames to hand the Hounds a tough 8-7 defeat.
Senior infielder Paul Tapia led the Eastern bats in the series, slashing .500 with three RBIs and had a team-high three stolen bases. Senior centerfielder Malcolm Smith went .462 with three RBIs and scored a team-high seven runs while Joel Paulino finished .444 from the plate with two RBIs and four runs.
While the Greyhounds pitching struggled in the series, ENMU got a pair of strong performances from starters Joel Torres and Braden Delamare. Picking up the Hounds lone win, Torres threw six solid innings, giving up just three earned runs on six hits with three walks and six strikeouts. Picking up a no-decision in the Sunday game, Delamare put together one of his best starts of the season, throwing 7.1 innings and giving up just three earned runs on eight hits, a walk and striking out three.
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS
Dallas Christian enters the four game weekend series with a 7-23 record. The Crusaders are coming off a series win, defeating Blackburn twice in a three game series last weekend before dropping a high-scoring 17-13 game to McMurry on Tuesday.
Freshman Casey Morrow has leads the Crusaders bats this season, slashing .333 from the plate while senior Cameron Henderson and junior Jacob Patlan have driven in a team-leading nine RBIs this season. Patlan leads the team with nine extra base hits, including eight doubles and a homer while Henderson has scored a team-best 12 runs.
On the mound, the Gabe Benza and J.T. Berry have pitched well out of the pen for the Crusaders, as neither has given up an earned run this season.
HISTORY WITH THE CRUSADERS
A series that began last season, the Greyhounds have fared well by winning all seven games in the last two years with Dallas Christian. The Hounds have faced the Crusaders twice this season, winning the season-opener 7-4 before coming back the following day with a 10-0 shutout victory.
DOWN IN THE ORDER, UP IN THE AVERAGE
Smith, the Hounds leadoff hitter all season, had struggled from the plate by batting just .213 through the first 17 games. After the first game of the series against the Javelinas, Smith was moved to the bottom of the order and has produced big for the Greyhounds, slashing 5-for-8 with six runs and three RBIs. With the big weekend, Smith raised his batting average 48 points to .261.
FINDING HIS STRIDE
Coming into the Kingsville series, Delamare has been looking to find a rhythm as he possessed a 10.12 ERA and was coming off his worst start of the season against Tarleton State, giving up three earned runs on two hits before getting pulled after 0.2 innings. Delamare bounced back in a big way against the top scoring team in the Lone Star, holding the Javelinas to just three earned runs in 7.1 innings.
CAPITALIZING ON CAPELLAN
After missing the first month of the season, senior pitcher Cesar Capellan made his return out of the pen for the Greyhounds last Friday. The Bonao, Dominican Republic native threw 1.2 innings and gave up four runs, just one earned in the Hounds 16-4 loss. Capellan was one of the Hounds top starters last season, throwing 43.2 innings and giving up just a 4.33 ERA while recording the second-best strikeout total on the team with 47.
